Torre Agbar, Barcelona

Torre Agbar history

The building is designed by the famous French architect Jean Nouvel. The design of the tower was inspired by the smooth cliffs of the nearby mountain Montserrat and the shape of an erupting geyser. The tower was also inspired by the architectural legacy of Barcelona’s Antoni Gaudi – more regards to the tower’s colors rather than the actual shape.

Construction

This skyscraper is the headquarter for the municipal water company, Aguas de Barcelona, whose owners – The Agbar Holding Group – have given the tower its name. The construction of this tower started in 1999 and stood finished six years later.

It was officially inaugurated by the King of Spain on September 16th 2005. The building consists of 38 storeys, including four underground levels, and totals 142 meters in height which makes it one of the absolute tallest buildings in Barcelona.

Why visit Torre Agbar ?

The beautiful Torre Agbar is one of the more recent additions to the Barcelonan cityscape. While the building has a very innovative interior, the exterior is really what catches people’s attention. The exterior consists of two layers. The inner layer which covers the concrete structure is made of polished aluminum in blues, greens and grays.

The outer shell

The outer shell, which adds an iridescent sparkle to the building, consists of almost 60.000 sheets of clear glass. These glass sheets also acts as louvers for the building’s 4.400 windows. In addition, temperature sensors in the outside of the tower regulate the opening and closing of the glass sheets, reducing the consumption of energy for air conditioning.

Inspiration

The colorful exterior is clearly inspired by Antonio Gaudi’s way of mixing different colors into something extraordinary. The colorful building becomes even more magnificent during the evening, when more than 4.500 lights in yellow, blue, pink and red illuminate the exterior.

Unusual shape

The rather unusual shape of the building has of course given it several nicknames. One of them is “El Supositori” – “The Suppository”, but it has several other more scatological ones, as one can imagine.

A centerpiece

When the building was introduced to the Barcelonans, many were skeptical due to its unusual shape and appearance.

Today however, the building has become dear to most of Barcelona’s citizens. The building has become, not only a part of the cityscape, but one of the centerpieces in today’s Barcelona. The building can be seen from pretty much every elevated place in Barcelona.

Torre Agbar location

Torre Agbar is located in Barcelona, in eastern Spain. The massive building can be found next to Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, the original city center of Barcelona. For the exact location of Torre Agbar, check out the location map to the right.﻿